Thursday, September 7, 2017

The spokesperson for the Misión de Apoyo Contra la Corrupción y la Impunidad (MACCIH), Juan Jimenez Mayor, told the listening audience yesterday on the TV program Frente a Frente in Honduras that MACCIH is investigating the accusations made during the trial of Fabio Lobo in the United States that his father, then President, Porfirio Lobo Sosa, took bribes from the Los Cachiros drug cartel to avoid extradition or investigation by the National Police.

The accusations against Lobo Sosa were made by Devis Rivera Maradiaga, one of the former heads of the Los Cachiros narcotics cartel in Honduras during Fabio Lobo's trial.

Jimenez Mayor backed off his initial statement a bit, saying that he wasn't indicating Lobo Sosa was guilty of anything, just that the accusation was being investigated.

Jimenez Mayor told Frente a Frente that MACCIH was also investigating accusations against ex-First Lady, Rosa Elena de Lobo and other connected people in the country. He also mentioned the IHSS corruption case where he said MACCIH was particularly interested in the DIMESA case, which had the most important contract with Mario Zelaya and he hoped it would be brought to trial soon.
"Our focus is on networks of corruption, both public and private", Jimenez Mayor said.

Wednesday, September 6, 2017

On August 29 of this year, Yankel Rosenthal plead guilty to money laundering through corrupt real estate deals in the United States, specifically that he took money from the Los Cachiros Cartel, and used it to buy real estate in the United States for them. Rosenthal told the court he atttempted to help a friend buy the real estate, even though he knew the friend provided services to the drug traffickers, but that the purchase never happened.

Rosenthal is the former Investment Minister in the government of Juan Orlando Hernandez in Honduras. He is the nephew of former Vice President Jaime Rosenthal Oliva

Prosecutors say they could have proved additional charges if the case had gone to trial; instead they reached a plea deal with Yankel Rosenthal. They allege that Rosenthal used over $500,000 of drug money to invest in the popular soccer team, Marathon, in San Pedro Sula. They allege Rosenthal solicited a bribe in 2013 from a US Oil exploration company in return for permission to explore for oil in Honduras.

Fabio Lobo was sentenced yesterday to 24 years in a federal prison, fined $50,000, and agreed to forfeit a further $267,000 for conspiring to bring cocaine into the United States. Fabio Lobo is the son of ex-Honduran President Porfirio Lobo Sosa.

Acting US Attorney Joon H. Kim stated that Fabio Lobo had sought out drug traffickers with offers of assistance with the intention of enriching himself. He continued:

"Lobo used his father's position and his own connections to bring drug traffickers together with corrupt police and government officials."

During the trail testimony was offered that among those corrupt officials was the current Minister of Security, Julian Pacheco Tinoco, and his own father, then President Porfirio Lobo Sosa. The DEA alleges that Los Chachiros paid over $500,000 in bribes to then President Porfirio Lobo Sosa to avoid extradition to the United States and to avoid investigation by Honduran police.

Lobo, whose lawyer says he will file an appeal of the sentence as "overly harsh", will serve his sentence in a Federal prison near Orlando, Florida, to facilitate access by his family.